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Kolkata International Film Festival to be launched virtually today; International book fair deferred
This year, 81 full-length feature films and 50 short films and documentaries from around 45 countries would be screened at eight venues over the next one week
The 26th Kolkata International Film Festival would be virtually launched by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee from the state secretariat on Friday.
Even though no guests would be physically present because of the Covid-19 pandemic, actor Shah Rukh Khan is expected to join the inauguration virtually.
“Together, we will overcome this pandemic. But the show must go on. We are going ahead with #KIFF 2021 virtually, on a smaller scale. Glad that my brother @iamsrk will join us virtually at the inaugural event on Jan 8, 4pm. Watch Kolkata International Film Festival live,” Banerjee had tweeted earlier this week.
This year, 81 full-length feature films and 50 short films and documentaries from around 45 countries would be screened at eight venues over the next one week.
KIFF is usually held in November every year but had to be postponed because of the pandemic. While the state had more than 36,000 active cases in November, the number has come down to less than 9,000 now.
Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), the third film in legendary film maker Satyajit Ray’s internationally recognised Apu Trilogy, would be screened at the inauguration.
A special tribute will be paid to the Soumitra Chatterjee, one of Bengal’s most celebrated actors, who died in November 2020. Chatterjee made his debut in 1959 with Apur Sansar as the husband of another debutant, 15-year-old Sharmila Tagore.
Meanwhile, another annual international event held in Kolkata, the International Kolkata Book Fair, has been postponed. The book fair is held every year in January – February. It is among the largest book fairs in the world attracting around two million visitors.
“Due to the prevailing pandemic situation, the 45th International Kolkata Book Fair 2021 is deferred. The revised date of the 45th International Kolkata Book Fair 2021 will be intimated as soon as the situation improves,” said a statement issued by the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, which organises the fair.
